Vanessa Hua is the author of "Deceit and Other Possibilities." (Photo: Marc Puich)

A Hong Kong movie star forced to return home to Oakland after a sex scandal. A boy from Mexico reunited with his parents in San Francisco, only to find his family splitting apart. An obedient Korean-American daughter who failed to get into Stanford and fakes her way onto campus. These are the characters in Vanessa Hua's debut collection of short stories, "Deceit and Other Possibilities," which centers around the lies people tell themselves and others. The San Francisco Chronicle columnist joins us to talk about her fiction writing and breaking away from stereotypes of first- and second-generation immigrants.